The Rain
by s.j. snodgrass
Summary: Ten years after the events of the Labyrinth, Sarah thinks she has the greates life. A loving boyfriend, a nice New York City apartment...but after a walking out on said boyfriend, an accident forces her to remember what she told herself hadn't been real.
1. LIfe with Sam

A/N: I have decided to do a serious Labyrinth fic. I'll post the first chapter, and you people who read this tell me if I should continue. Thanx.

It was cold. So cold. Rain came down in sheets and pelted the sidewalk of New York City. Wind blew furiously, ordering every person who hadn't gotten inside to do so. It howled and whistled, easily one of the worst and strangest storms its citizens had seen in a while.

It was on these cold and soaking streets that a young woman ran down, holding a leather case protectively under her arm. Most in her place might have used said case to shield themselves from the harsh rain, but not this woman. She was attempting to keep it as dry as possible, despite the damage she herself was taking.

Her clothes were soaked through. Her jeans drenched, her white tank-top clinging to her shapely body. An unzipped jacket hung loosely from her shoulders, also sopping wet. Long, dark brown waves of hair clung to her face and back, as if also trying to seek shelter from the rain.

She kept running, though. Eyes squeezed nearly shut, ears mingling with the raindrops. She ran toward a large, stone apartment building. Once there, she reached into her pocket and dug around for her keys.

When she found them, she hastily withdrew them and fumbled in the lock. In her haste, she dropped the keys into a puddle at her feet.

Muttering a string of curses, she picked them up and successfully opened the door, throwing herself inside and slamming the door behind her. Breathing deeply, she leaned against the door for a few moments. Then she began t try and fix her appearance. She smoothed her hair back as best she could, straightened her jacket, and brushed the water drops from her case.

She ascended the great metal staircase in front of her to the second floor, slipping a few times on the water she had brought with her. On the second floor were three identical doors. She unlocked the middle one and slowly stepped inside.

She was greeted by the bellowing laughter of some person on television. Sighing and dropping her keys on the table in the hall, she walked into her living room.

"Sarah? Is that you?" A man's voice called from the couch. She looked down at a handsome brunette, sprawled out on the couch with a wife-beater and a pair of boxers on. As soon as the man lay eyes on her his expression changed to concern. "Are you alright? You look like a wet cat!" He chuckled warmly, getting up and draping a towel over her shoulders.

Sarah gave him a wry smile. "I got caught in the rain." She explained, though she knew that was obvious. "Caught? It looks like you took a swim in it." The man gave her another smile and sat her down on the couch with him.

"I saw the people about my book." Sarah said quietly, looking at the ground. The man's smile broadened. "Great! How did it go? Did they enjoy it as much as I did?" He asked, putting an arm around her.

"Yeah, they liked it. Thought it was very well written. As if I'd been there myself." At this she laughed sadly. "They uh…didn't want it, though."

The man's face fell. "Why not? You said they liked it. Why in the world would they reject it?" His brow furrowed, contemplating his own question.

"They didn't like Jareth. They thought he was too…oh, I don't know, Sam, They just didn't like him as a character. They told me to re-write his character and come back." She sighed, fidgeting with her sleeves.

"Sarah." Sam pulled her into a hug and kissed her forehead, letting her cry into his shoulder. "Sarah, Sarah. I'm so sorry. While I might not have liked the old Goblin King myself, I don't thing he should be cut from the story. He practically is what the plot revolves around." He was trying to be soothing and gentle.

After a while Sarah stopped crying. "I didn't want to be rejected like that, but it's my fault, I guess. Going in there and thinking I'd get my book published without any problems." She was laughing at herself.

"Just re-write the character, and take it back. After all, it's just a character in a book. I'm sure he won't mind. The Sarah Williams I know doesn't give in like that. My Sarah is strong and determined." Sam smiled and brushed Sarah's hair out of her face.

"You're right. I'll just re-write him. No harm in it, right?" She kissed him and got up, stretching. "I'm going to get out of these wet clothes and go to bed. I'm tired and I need to rethink the almighty 'Goblin King'." She smiled, returning slowly to her normal self.

"Good night, then." Sam kissed her again and stretched back out on the bed, directing his attention to the football game on the screen. Sarah rolled her eyes and walked down the hall. Before she disappeared into her room, though, she called back to him. "Remember, my little brother turns ten tomorrow, we have to give him a call."

"Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about Toby." Sam called back. Satisfied, Sarah continued into her bedroom and into the adjoining bathroom.

She peeled off her drenched clothing and tossed them in the hamper before stepping into the shower.

She liked her little apartment. She had moved here to New York City when she was twenty, anything to escape from her stepmother and get her name into the world. Toby was devastated by her departure, as they had grown close over the years.

She'd found this place quickly enough, and had lived in it alone for about two years on her salary from her desk job at a major publishing company. Soon after she met Sam. Smart, charming Sam. He was the one who convinced her to write a book, since he loved her 'story' of a girl in a labyrinth.

If only he knew how much more than a story that was…

They'd reached a time in their lives when the prospect of marriage popped up every so often, and talk of moving to an actual house became an active topic in their lives. Sam wanted a bigger apartment in the city, close to his teaching business. Sarah wanted a cottage in the country, with lots of animals and a lake.

Sam wanted one child, a son. Sarah wanted two, a boy and a girl.

So the couple often had their disagreements, but nothing that wasn't fixable. The only thing that was keeping marriage in the future was the constant fight over their differing concepts on reality.

Every so often, despite how many times she had told herself that this was the 'real' world, Sarah had certain moments when she would get scared of a seemingly random area, or she would get strange feelings about things that hadn't happened yet.

These were all forgivable, though. What constantly drove Sam crazy was Sarah's objection to ever saying "I wish". She justified it by saying "be careful what you wish for" But never said anything more.

Other than that, they were a healthy couple. Or at least, she thought they were.

She stepped out of the shower and wrapped a new, fresh towel around herself, breathing in the soft scent of her favorite fabric softener. Dressing herself in gray sweatpants and a forest green t-shirt, she opened the bathroom door and went back into her room.

She could tell Sam was still in the other room by the sound of announcers shouting about someone making a great pass.

Smiling to herself, she pulled back her sheets and settled comfortably in bed, sighing with contentment. She reached into her nightstand's drawer and pulled out a notepad. She flipped it open and scribbled something in it before putting it back in the drawer.

So they wanted her to re-write Jareth, did they? Well she'd do it. She'd bend to those sneering faces' will. After all, Jareth was just a memory now. A memory she had convinced herself had been a dream. Goblins don't exist in the real world, she told herself constantly. They are pure fiction, nothing more.

No matter how many times she told herself this, however, she could not help but feel a pain in her gut like she was terribly wrong.

She covered her face in her hands and shook her head, attempting to shake some sense into it.

"Goblins aren't real." She told herself firmly and clearly. However, how did that explain the thing that was moving around in the shadows of her room?

TO BE CONTINUED………………………..

**A/N: First chapter is done. What'd you think? Sorry if it is a little slow starting out, but I wanted to put detail into it. So should I do chapter two? I probably will anyway, but the process will go a lot faster if you review….;)**


	2. Back again

**A/N: LOOK EVERYONE! I'm FINALLY UPDATING! IT'S THE APOCOLYPSE! Ahem..yes. Here you go. Sorry it took so long. Please review. **

She screamed. Loud, she could tell by the obnoxious shouts of the people in the neighboring apartments, but she could stop. Something was dancing in the shadows of her room, and she didn't know what it was.

"Sarah!" Sam came running into the room and immediately flung his arms around her, checking her for injury. "Sarah! Sarah, what happened? What's the matter?"

She stopped screaming and buried her face in Sam's chest. "Something in the corner." She sobbed.

Sam frowned and walked over to where she began pointing to and looked around. After a few moments of looking around he came up with a pair of his sweatpants. He raised an eyebrow. "Is this what you were so afraid of?" He asked.

She shook her head in disbelief. "No! It was moving, I promise! It was something else." She grabbed the sweatpants and waved them around, as if to demonstrate her point.

Sam just smiled and sat down on the bed beside her. "Listen, honey, you're just tired. What with the book and all, you just need rest. Come on, let's go to bed and you'll feel better-"

Sarah cut him off, jumping to her feet. "No! Sam you don't understand! Damnit, every time something like this happens you never believe me! You just dismiss it like a dream from overwork! Jesus, is it too much to ask for you to believe me once in a while?" She shouted, not caring about the neighbors.

Sam responded with retaliation. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm supposed to believe you when you say that my sweatpants are moving across the room? Christ, Sarah, dismissing it as over work is the only way for me to stay sane! Do you want me to say that my girlfriend is a basket case?"

"I'm a basket case? Is that what you think I am?" Sarah snarled.

"No, Sarah, I-" He struggled. "Yes, you're a fucking Basket case, is that what you want?" He slammed his fist into the nightstand for emphasis, knocking down her notebook.

She just stared at him in horror, taking a step away from him. His eyes widened, and he stepped toward her. She batted him away and ran from the room, tore open the front door, and took off down the stair, Sam calling after her.

She ran down the stair and slipped on her puddles, falling a few steps and slamming her shin into a bar. Wincing with pain she looked down and saw blood mixing with rain on her leg.

Gritting her teeth, she got back up and continued her running, out the door and down the street. She ran in front of traffic, nearly getting hit by an angry taxi driver. She kept running, though, into a park. She had spent time writing in that park many times, but somehow it seemed larger, and more ominous. But she ran straight into it, tears of sadness and exhaustion streaming down her face.

When she was in the park it seemed darker, cruel, even. She tripped over something and went flying, face first, into a large puddle. There she stayed, and broke down. Her body shuddered with pain and tears. She clutched her injured leg, dismissing her injured pride.

It was all too much. That thing in her room, Sam, Jareth, all too much.

The rain beat down on her hard, drenching her body from head to toe, her small frame exposed her clothing clinging to her body with water. She thought about getting up, but didn't. She couldn't.

She could hear something. Wings, maybe? She couldn't tell. All she could be sure of was the rain, and the dark, and the fading.


	3. Problems

Sarah was drifting. Somewhere between consciousness and sleep. She wasn't even able to recall falling asleep, but she knew it had happened sometime. She slowly opened her eyes, felt sick, and closed them again. When she felt she was capable of opening them, she tried again, and the world came into focus.

But what world? This place didn't look familiar at all. Or did it?

She could tell she was cold. Oh, she was cold. She sat up and found herself laying on cold stone. "What?" She ran a hand over the stone. It was oddly familiar.

She slowly got up and looked around. It was dark here, but here looked like some kind of alley. How did she get into an alley? Folding her arms over her wet chest, she walked out of the alley and gasped.

All around her things were running around. Goblins were running around in some kind of…marketplace. She wondered how this was possible. It shouldn't be possible, goblins? Goblins weren't real. Or at least they shouldn't be. Her mind was fuzzy. She didn't feel like she knew anything. Except one thing.

"We are not in New York anymore." She said softly, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Oi, missy, outta da way!" A short, thick goblin pulling a cart grumbled at her. She jumped out of the way and it went along, muttering all the way.

She scowled. "You're welcome!" She called after it. "Rude little bugger."

She looked around again with a new, almost childlike determination. "Wherever the hell it is I am, I might as well make the best of it. Maybe it's a dream. Yeah, a dream. Damn, Sam's right. If these are my dreams I must be a basket case." She said to herself, walking around the marketplace, avoiding grumpy goblins as much as she could. However, she began to worry as she got more and more strange looks from the crowd.

"Hey, Lady, move!" A small, _something_ raced toward her, clutching something to its breast. Closer inspection showed her that it was a small, boy-like creature with three horns growing out of his forehead and fanged canines.

He ran behind her and before he could get around her she scooped him up in her arms and held him there.

"Hey, what's your problem! Release me, put me down now!" He struggled against her but she held him fast.

"Alright, you, I'm sick of being treated like…like nothing around here. I may not know where I am, but enough is enough! How about a little courtesy?" She growled at him.

He looked at her like she had lost her marbles. But before he could reply, Sarah and himself were surrounded by much larger, armor wearing goblins.

"You! Stranger, are you with him?" One of them asked, pointing to Sarah.

"Not necessarily…" She looked around, worried. This wasn't going the way she would have planned. "No, you see, I'm a little lost, I- OWW! You little-"

The thing in her arms had bitten her, but before it had gotten very far it was snatched up by one of the larger goblins.

The leader of the goblins in question nodded at the one with the boy like thing, and then looked back to Sarah.

"Get the intruder, too. You know the punishment for intruding upon our boundaries." He said. In response two other goblins seized Sarah's arms and began dragging her toward a large structure in the middle of the town. Something akin to a castle.

"Punishment? Wait a minute, I don't even know how I got here, and I most certainly didn't come here purposefully. Goblins aren't even real where I come from, you can see the problem, I'd think." She said to the nearest goblin.

"Shut up!" They shouted, silencing her.

When they reached the large castle, they dragged Sarah down several stairs and to a large dungeon. Once there, they tossed Sarah and the other creature into a cell, locked it, and departed.

"Wait a minute! Get back here! Tell me what I'm here for! Or where here is, for that matter!" Sarah had her hands on the bars and attempted to shake them.

"Its no good, those bars aren't going to budge." The boy like thing said.

"Well excuse me for trying. Don't you want to get out of here?" Sarah asked, sitting down.

"What for? If I just sit tight I'll be let out eventually. I'm just a thief. You're an intruder. And worse, you're a human." He stuck his tongue out at her and turned away from her.

"Just a thief? And what happens to me?"

"Probably execution."

"Execution?!" Sarah felt her head spin. "I don't even know how I got here…and now you're telling me I'm going to be executed?" She leaned her head against the cool stone wall. She didn't even realize she was crying until she felt the hot tears streaking down her face.

"Uh, hey, don't cry. Listen, I'm sorry. My name is Molger. I didn't mean to sound so harsh. It won't be so bad. Just a quick blow and you're dead. You won't even feel it." The boy, Molger, said gently, coming to sit beside her.

"I'm Sarah." She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "Look at me. I'm twenty two, and I'm sitting in a cell in some kind of…Goblin palace and-" Suddenly her eyes widened and she jumped to her feet.

"Oh my God I remember! This is just like ten years ago! The Goblin Kingdom! I remember!" She shouted, almost laughing.

"Um…what exactly do you remember?" Molger asked, scratching his head.

"I've been here before! Come on, Molger, we're getting out of here." She ran to the bars and pulled a bobby pin from her hair. "Here, Molger, you have small hands. See if you can pick this lock."

He looked at her as though she was crazy and he jiggled the bobby pin in the lock a bit. When they heard a click, they pushed the door open.

"You did it! Coem on." Sarah tugged Molger's hand and they were soon racing up cold, wet stairs.


	4. dungeons and kisses

They raced up the stairs and to a large hallway. "Okay, Molger, you're my native, which way do we go?"

"You're crazy, Lady! I don't know my way around here! Besides, you may not have had much to lose by leaving that cell, but I did! I could get killed for this!" Molger shouted.

"I won't let anything happen to you, I promise. Now let's go…this way!" She tugged him again and went through the nearest door to another set of stairs. They started to run up them, but stopped dead when they ran into the very goblins that had just captured them.

"Oh shit…" Sarah said, running back the other way, Molger trailing behind.

"The prisoners have escaped! Get them!" The goblins ran after them, chasing them down the stairs.

In the hallway Sarah chose another door, the Goblins closing in on them. Her adrenaline was pumping, and she kept repeating the phrase, "_I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die!" _over and over in her head.

"We're gonna get killed, and my last theft wasn't even successful!" Molger screamed.

"You think you have it bad? I'm not even wearing a bra!" Sarah shouted back.

The goblins were nearly on them when Sarah ran headlong into something very solid and fell backwards into the goblins.

The grabbed her arms and Molger.

"Hey! Let Molger go! It's my fault he's here!" Sarah snarled, even as the goblins hit her for it.

"Let him go!" Sarah bit down on the guard holding her arms, and he squealed in pain. Her arms free, she punched the nearest guard to her, the one holding Molger. He bellowed and dropped Molger. Two more guards grabbed her and pulled her back, one punching her in the face.

Her nose now bleeding, she shouted, "Run, Molger! Just go! Get out of here!" He nodded, face pale, and took off down the hall.

Suddenly, just as one of the goblins prepared to hit her again, a booming voice filled the hall.

"Enough! What is going on here?"

Sarah's eyes widened. _That Voice!_ She tried to look up but the goblins held her head to the floor.

"What have you got there?" The voice asked, a voice so familiar to Sarah.

"My lord, it is an intruder. And a human! We captured her earlier but she escaped from prison. She's going to be executed." The lead goblin said.

"Oh really? Let me see her." The voice said.

The goblins holding her grabbed a tuft of her hair and pulled her face upwards to meet the eyes of the man in front of her. She recognized those eyes instantly.

"Jareth!" She breathed, hardly believing it.

He seemed to have the same reaction she did, judging by his expression. His eyes were wide, and he took a step back.

"Sarah…impossible." He looked her over for a few moments, then he seemed to regain his composure. He looked from Sarah to the guards holding her. "Fools! Release her and get out of my sight!"

The goblins holding her flinched and let her go, running off like frightened dogs.

When they were gone, Jareth, Goblin King, focused his attention on Sarah again.

"Sarah, how are you here?" He extended his hand and pulled her to her feet. His eyes wandered over her in a way they had not the last time they met.

"I don't know how I'm here. Hell, I don't even know how you're here. I've spent so long telling myself that you don't exist that I…" She started to fall backward.

Jareth grabbed her. "Thanks. I guess my recent adventuring has taken its toll on my body." Sarah muttered, eyes closing.

"Come, Sarah." Were the last words she heard before losing consciousness for the second time.

When she eventually awoke she found herself in a large bed with red silk sheets. Putting her head to her forehead, she discovered that she still had dried blood on her face from her nose.

She was trying to put her thoughts in order when the door of the room she was in opened, and Jareth stepped inside.

"Oh my god, you! Get the hell away from me!" She scrambled across the bed as far away form him as possible.

He almost looked hurt by her reaction. "Now Sarah, is that any way to greet an old friend? You were much kinder earlier."

"Friend! Ha! You kidnapped my little brother and then made me go through hell to get him back! How do you call yourself a friend?" She shouted.

Rather than answering Jareth crossed the room and sat down on the bed. "If you remember I took your brother because you asked me to. Not for any other reason. And I gave you a chance to get him back. A chance I would give to no other."

"Oh, so you're saying that you did me a favor!? Because of you I can't even have a normal relationship with the man I love! Let alone get a simple book published! I'm not the same little girl you met before, Jareth!" Sarah was shouting. She got closer to him to emphasize her anger.

"I'm not so easily manipulated as I was before, Jareth! Remember, you have no power over me-"

She was cut off as Jareth reached across the bed and grabbed her face in his hands. He looked her in the eyes for a few seconds, and then he pressed his lips against hers.


	5. The proposal

Sarah was frozen. She couldn't move at all. There she was, in the arms of the man she had convinced herself was just a memory for ten years. She stared at him, unable to do much else, just staring into those blue and brown eyes. Then, somehow, she regained her wits. Rather than be reduced to some mindless glob of lust, she retaliated.

With enormous effort, she tore free of him and slapped him, right across his gorgeous face. He kept his face turned from her, and remained expressionless.

Sarah's common sense seemed to awaken then, from some distant sleep. Her common sense, the wonderful and frequently absent thing, had only one word to tell her, "oops".

She gasped at what she had done. Her stupid impulses had just caused her to infuriate the one person here that might be able to get her home.

He closed his mismatched eyes and Sarah flinched and closed her eyes, preparing for a blow. Instead, what she got was a laugh. Opening her eyes she saw Jareth now lounging across her bed like he owned it. (Which he did) His eyes were focused on her, and one of his gloved hands rested on the cheek she had slapped. Sarah had to admit, he looked like some kind of god lying there like that.

"You have changed so much, Sarah. And in so little time." He remarked, smirking at her.

She blushed and looked away. "Ten years may not be a lot of time for you, but for me…" She wanted to hit him again. How dare he look so smug at a time like this?

"Sarah, what have you been doing with your life? You look rather…disgruntled to say the least. Did you think to just 'drop in' when you had a few difficulties?" He sat up and looked her over again, establishing his power over her. At least, he was trying to establish something to that end, but she wasn't going to have it.

"How dare you ask me something like that! First of all, I did not come running to you for help. You shouldn't even be real. Besides, my 'disgruntled appearance,' as you so eloquently put it, is due in no small part to your little minions." She glared at him and attempted to regain some form of composure. However, she supposed finding composure while covered in blood and grime in the presence of a king was nearly impossible.

"Has it really been that long?" He mused, looking away from her.

"Why, have you missed me?" She asked sarcastically, turning from him and running a hand through her dirty hair.

He looked back over at her and stared for a long time before answering. "Maybe a bit. Did you miss me?" He smirked, almost causing her to wince at how easily he parried her verbal blow.

She decided to play his little game, though. She wasn't going to give in to him. It would be humiliating.

"Maybe a bit." She replied, looking sideways at him for a brief amount of time, then looking away again. She mentally congratulated herself on maintaining such a calm demeanor.

He moved closer to her, not willing to lose this little game. "You have changed. You're not the same little girl you were ten years ago." He purred in her ear.

She turned around to face him and her lips curled into a smile. "Ah, but you're still the arrogant high-and-mighty brat you've always been." She pressed a hand to his chest and pushed him over, standing up as he fell onto his back, losing all manner of grace he had.

He got to his feet and pursued her across the room. She turned around and found herself facing him at his full height, glaring down at her. "Remember who you are speaking to, Sarah. I'm not a human. I can't be defied or cowed." He said dangerously.

His intention was to frighten, and Sarah had to compose herself inwardly before she could continue. After all, she may be older, but he was still frightening, and equally powerful.

Yet, some force of will beyond her knowledge forced her to finish what she started. Swallowing her fear, she said, "Jareth, Jareth, do you want me so badly that you would try to frighten me into submission?" She asked, raising one eyebrow. Ah, a blow to his pride, much better.

He smiled back at her and laughed again, turning around. "And I thought you had grown up. You still flatter yourself far too much." He wasn't going to fall easily, and neither, he realized, was she.

"You still seem to think the world revolves around you, Sarah. Is everything still 'not fair'?" He mocked.

She twitched with distaste as he brought up what had been her 'catchphrase' so many years ago. But, as fate would have it, two very proud individuals had been closed in a room together, at odds, neither one willing to yield to the other.

"I think the world revolves around me, do I? I find myself in another world by pure accident, and suddenly I'm greeted by the man that thinks he's God's gift to the world. If anybody here thinks the world revolves around them, it would be you." She shot at him, adding a mocking laugh.

He put a hand on her shoulder and turned her around to face him. "Sarah, you cannot win against me. You can fight, but I won't be put down by you again." He smiled evilly and touched her face with a gloved hand.

Now, it should probably be noted here that two people may begin a conversation with a certain set agenda, opinion, or emotion. However, when faced with a challenge, especially one so linked to one's pride and self-esteem, those people may find themselves spinning off in a complete opposite direction, both trying to beat the other and prove that they are the superior, despite the fact that their intentions may have started out very differently.

"My kingdom is as great as yours, Goblin King. You're right, I will fight you, but I'll win. Your pride will be your downfall, Jareth." She nearly hissed his name, but all with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

He straightened himself again and shook his head. "What a delight you are." He smirked.

"I was going to say the same of you." She smiled at him again, taking a step closer to him.

"Let's make a deal, Jareth. We'll play a little game, if you will. You like games. If I win, you return me to my own world. I lose…well, you tell me." She was nearly touching his chest, eyes upturned to him the entire time.

He slipped his arm behind her and pulled her to him. "Oh, I'd love it. A rematch, then? Alright. But if I win, you stay here forever, deal?" He pushed her from him and held out his hand, where she shook it.

He flicked his head in the direction of a door. "Through that door is a bathroom, you can bathe and get dressed in there." He began to turn from her and leave the room.

"Oh, alright then. Thank you, your _highness." _She stressed the word to mock him.

He turned back around and she was turning from him, peeling off her wet shirt and pants and depositing them on the floor.

"I suppose, then, I'm perfectly safe here since I'm obviously flattering myself by thinking you have feelings for me. And if you don't want me, then there is obviously no reason to be modest, is there?" She threw him a glance over her shoulder and walked across the room to the bathroom, wearing nothing but Jareth's eyes on her.


	6. The game

**A/N: Holy Geez, how long has it been since I wrote this? Sorry it took so long! Here's the next chapter!**

Sarah shut the bathroom door behind her, leaned against the door, and slid down it, all the while thinking, that was stupid! Way to go, Sarah, pissing off the only person that could get you out of here. Now what have you gotten yourself into? Some king of game with a fae. Good one!

She held her head in her hands, trying to make sense of her thoughts. Alright, so I have to beat him at his own game, that shouldn't be too hard. I've already done it once! She thought. She got to her feet, feeling a slight bit of comfort in herself, and surveyed the room. Her mouth fell open.

The room was beautiful. It was all a dark marble, with a huge pool in the center, which she guessed was supposed to be a bathtub, if the suds floating on the water were any indication, though the biggest bathtub she had ever been in was about the size of the steps leading into this one. The pool was square, with pillars in every corner, all carved delicately with leaves and goblin faces.

There was one window, at the far corner of the room. She went to it, and looked down. Seemingly a hundred feet below her people, or rather, goblins, were wondering the streets, several in armor now that night was descending. The utter eerie and warped world below hardly compared to the beauty of the room she was in now. Or the bedroom, for that matter. They were, she admitted, the best looking rooms she had ever seen in the underground.

A stray breeze blew in from the window and she shuddered. It was enough to draw her to the waiting steaming pool. She was about to step into it when she heard a faint sound out the window.

She looked out it and saw Molger hanging a few feet below her.

"Hey! Sarah! I came to rescue you!" He called, waving.

"Molger! Get out of here! What are you going to do if Jareth catches you?" Sarah hissed, looking over her shoulder.

"The king aint gonna see, now come on!" Molger replied.

"Molger…Thank you for coming, but I don't need help. I've made a deal with the king and he's going to let me go. So please, go!" Sarah urged, covering her chest with her arms to keep out the breeze.

"You gotta be crazy, but I guess you know best. If I don't see you again by tomorrow, I'm coming to get you!" Then he fell from her sight.

She shrieked and looked around at the ground below, only to see him running down the road far below her, unharmed. She breathed a sigh of relief and pulled back from the window, unable to bare the freezing temperature any longer. For a moment she just looked at the water, almost afraid of it. She knew that when Underground nothing was what it seemed. However, one more gust of wind made the decision for her, and she stepped into the water.

It was warm and relaxing, the perfect temperature, and immediately she found herself sinking completely into it, the pool being deep enough for her to stand with water just above her breasts. She sighed in contentment and tilted her head back, running her fingers through her hair.

The water made her feel much better. She could think about what was to come without being so worried. Her mind was clear, she regained confidence. She was ready to make a battle plan, and just as she was about to come up with one, she was disturbed.

"Soothing, isn't it?"

Her eyes shot open and she looked across the pool. On the opposite side Jareth leaned against the edge, naked, as far as she could see above the water. Her brain short-circuited.

"What are you doing in here??" She shouted, cowering in the bathwater, her arms over her chest.

Her reaction made one of his eyebrows shoot up. "Sarah, whatever happened to all that confidence you were displaying earlier? Now suddenly you are afraid of me seeing your body? I assure you, whatever you are hiding, you've already shown it." He said.

Oops. She had forgotten all about that. She had been so caught off guard by him being naked that she had forgotten that she had already displayed her body to him. And proudly, too. To try and save herself, she moved her arms and straightened herself, though she imagined she utterly failed.

"You haven't answered my question." She said, more boldly than she thought she could.

"True, because a king hardly needs to justify why he is in his own bathroom. Rather, you should be thanking me for letting you use not only my bath, but also my bed, if you recall." He replied.

Her mouth fell open. "Your…." She mouthed, unable to form a complete sentence. Though, she did pretty well, considering she went speechless when she found out she was in his bathtub, and not when he appeared in front of her naked.

"You see, Sarah, I can play your game, too. And better, I'd imagine. I've had much more practice at it," he said, treading water over to her. "You may have grown up, but I'll always be older and more…experienced."

Sarah tried to work her mouth. It was difficult trying to function with him so close to her. This was unfair. She wasn't ready for this. Especially not for what happened next.

He put a hand on the sides of the pool on either side of her, leaning in so that his chest barely brushed the tips of her breasts.

"I have decided our game, Sarah. If I win, you stay here with me. If you win…" He picked up her hand and kissed her wrist. "You tell me."

Perhaps is was his close proximity to her. Perhaps it was the fact that he was saying her words right back to her, but her brain was melting into a pile of something indescribable and not at all like how a brain should be.

"Look at me, Sarah. I'm offering you a chance to give up." He purred seductively.

It was so tempting to just listen to him, to do as he asked, but her brain regained a bit of its form, dragging up an old memory.

"Look what I'm offering, your dreams."

She slapped his hand away, breaking his spell, and tried to move away, but he caught her hand and pulled her against him.

"Careful, Sarah." He hissed, his seductive tones gone. "You know I can be cruel."

"I don't sleep with the enemy." She bit back, trying to ignore the pain he was causing in her wrist.

"Who's your enemy? I'm your opponent in a game. Should you accept, that is." He said, pushing her from him.

She floated a few inches away, rubbing her wrist. "I don't accept anything until I know what it is."

The corner of Jareth's lip twitched upward. "Clever. Alright Sarah, here is your task: run the labyrinth again."

Sarah's eyes widened. "What? Again? But that's not-"

"Fair?" He finished for her, eyes flashing. She shut her mouth. "Then if you don't accept, you forfeit yourself to me. Accept, or forfeit." He extended a hand, drops of water falling from it.

For a moment she just stared at the hand. When she had though of a game, she hadn't imagined he'd do this. But….

She reached out and shook his hand. "I beat it once, I'll do it again."

He smiled and pulled her to him again. "Oh now Sarah, don't underestimate me. We've already discovered what my mere body can do to you. Last time you had the challenge of a child, this time it will be one to match you now."

She tried to wrench herself free. When he wouldn't let go, she chose words. "Well we've already seen what _my _body does to you, so we're on equal footing."

He let her go. "You still flatter yourself." He said, turning around.

Her temper flared. "That's the second time you've said that, and so far you prove it wrong. I don't think I flatter myself at all. Its you who keeps pursuing me."

But her words fell on deaf ears. He had vanished, and all that remained was his voice, with, "Be ready to begin your challenge tomorrow morning. Its too late to turn back."

**A/N:Review is all I ask, and then I'll make faster chapters!!**


End file.
